July 13

7/13 - Back to back USDA reports lit a fire under grain prices Friday. In its quarterly Stocks and Acreage report, the USDA chopped 5M acres off of 2020/21 corn, from 97M to 92M acres. In Friday’s WASDE, the USDA lowered its forecast of corn for ethanol by 50M bushels. But with supply declining more than use, 2020/21 ending stocks were cut from 3.38 to 2.60B bushels. The USDA raised its forecast for 2020/21 corn from $3.20 to $3.35 per bushel. Corn futures, which started the year at $3.91, had dipped all the way to $3.02 in late April and closed at $3.40 on Friday. The USDA’s 2020/21 wheat outlook is for larger supplies, lower domestic use, and increased stocks. In Friday’s WASDE, the USDA left its 2020/21 wheat forecast unchanged at $4.60 per bushel. Chicago wheat futures at $5.35 per bushel are up from lows of $4.74 just 2 weeks ago.